Sorba Thomas set to benefit from rule change to make Hull City full debut

Sorba Thomas could make his first Hull City start in the competition he was knocked out of by Hull City a fortnight ago.

Thomas's final home game for Stoke City was in the Carabao Cup second round on August 25, when he set up the opening goal for Robert Bozenik and scored in a penalty shoot-out that Hull won 5-4.

But the 27-year-old winger subsequently made a transfer deadline day move to Hull for an initial fee of £8m that is expected to rise to £10.5m. He made his first appearance as a substitute in the Premier League in a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday.

Now he is on standby to make his full debut in the Carabao Cup at Sunderland on Tuesday night after a change to the cup-tied rule that has come into force last season.

Rule 6.4 now reads: "A registered player shall be permitted to play for up to two clubs in the competition in any one season save that no such player shall be entitled to play for two different clubs in the semi-final stage of the competition."

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Former Stoke coach Dean Holden, now Hull's assistant manager, told HullLive: "I don't know exactly [how many changes] but we'll see how they come through the session today There will be changes, Sergej {Jakirovic) proved that in the first game, he said it's a good opportunity to get minutes into players who need to get up to speed.

"There's a lot of players who have come through the door in the transfer window and they need valuable minutes. You saw in that first game (against Stoke), there was a lot of changes and we still got a positive result which has been great actually for the chemistry of the group."

Thomas was one of six players who Hull signed on deadline day and four were named in the squad against Villa. He set up a good chance for Oli McBurnie when he was sent on but the striker couldn't turn the cross home.

Hull manager Jakirovic said: "I think (Thomas) brought a lot of energy, a lot of good solutions, decisions, some great crosses to Oli. We tried on the last day to add the quality we needed and I think that will help the team."

Thomas had joined Stoke for £1.5m from Huddersfield last summer and was the player of the year last season.

He said: "For me I felt like (before I joined Stoke) that my problem was that I couldn't score goals. I could assist, I could create chances but I needed to add goals to my game. Last year I showed them I can do that and it's about kicking on and doing it again and being able to do it at the top level. This is a dream come true and for me it's about proving I can do it against the best.

"I can't wait. I've come a long way, loads of ups, loads of downs, loads of people saying I wouldn't be here in this situation. It's showing people in non-league or part-time football you can still achieve their dreams. I'm living proof of that.

"I've come to excite (Hull supporters) on and off the pitch. There is not going to be a dull moment while I'm here. I've come to help the team stay in the Premier League."

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